I&B censors to snip ads before air time

The provision empowers the Government to prohibit the operation of any cable television network, by notification in the official gazette, if it thinks it necessary or expedient to do so in public interest. During the Kargil war, this provision was invoked and Pakistan TV banned.

The new step, Ministry officials say, has been necessitated by the ‘‘nonchalant attitude’’ of satellite channels which continued to air ‘‘absurd commercials,’’ both sexist and inimical to Indian culture.

‘‘They have been playing a cat-and-mouse game with us. They promised to take some absurd commercials off the air but brought it back again,’’ Ministry officials point out.

Since January 16 this year, notices have been sent to about a dozen satellite channels, asking them to stop airing objectionable commercials. About a dozen commercials, related to liquor, fairness cream, lingerie commercials were identified as objectionable by an inter-ministerial panel constituted at the initiative of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

As of now, pre-censorship of commercials, a provision in the Cinematograph Act, ensures that no commercial is screened in theatres without a certification from the Censor Board of Film Certification.

The I&B Ministry had taken the views of the Law Ministry on coopting these provisions in the Cable Act and the latter, it is learnt, okayed the idea.Showcause notices were sent to the channels. Many of them promised to comply. But the commercials bounced back in the wake of the cricket frenzy.

Pre-censorship though comes with its own set of problems. With most channels uplinking from Singapore and Hong Kong, they follow the law of the land from where they uplink. So there has to be an arrangement to monitor these commercials before they are beamed into the country.